Springboard – A Cultural Collage

2 July 2018

The Belconnen Community Gallery ‘Springboard’ series is back this August. Emerging artist Andrew Plant will be showcasing his “Voices of the Market” exhibition, a photo series documenting the lives of market vendors in the Solomon Islands. You will then have the opportunity to dive into the dreamlike works of Amandeep Kaur through her exhibition “Transit”. The digital media exhibition explores themes of cultural identity and transmigration through digital fabrication of photographs taken in both Switzerland and India.

Every year Belconnen Community Gallery partners with local arts educational institutions to support emerging artists and help them create an exhibition outside of the educational environment. The ‘Springboard’ exhibition series aims to launch new artists into their post study practice.

The Gallery has formed a strong relationship with the Australian National University (ANU) School of Arts Emerging Artist Support Scheme (EASS) over the years. Every year the Gallery staff attends the ANU School of Art Graduate exhibition to invite artists to be part of the Springboard series.

This year’s EASS prize winner, Amandeep Kaur’s work are depictions of transitional dreams, where everything exists in the state of ‘liminality’ between the different spatial environments in India and Switzerland.

Her colourful photomontages are inspired by mythological stories, symbolism and the colours of India as well as the Swiss cities of Solothurn and Basel.

The Gallery has also recently teamed up with the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) Photography department, showcasing the winners of their collaborative competition with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC).

CIT’s 2017 Photography Competition Prize winner Andrew Plant travelled to the Solomon Islands to capture images, in support of the Markets for Change Project. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women project aims to ensure marketplaces in rural and urban areas promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Andrew said, “I was not only exposed to the daily challenges faced by market vendors from farm plot to market stall, but to their enthusiasm in developing a cohesive voice and being active participants in defining their future opportunities through market vendor associations”.